First Impressions: Sniper Elite: Resistance Solo Campaign
Continuing the legacy of the long-standing WWII shooter series, Sniper Elite: Resistance is hot off the press for Playstation and Xbox players as well as PC, this time putting you in the shoes of a WWII Allied commando backing up the French Resistance through a variety of strategic missions and ultimately trying to uncover a powerful secret weapon. The Rebellion series first launched in 2005 and continues a full 20 years later with Resistance as its sixth mainline addition, following Sniper Elite 5 which hailed generally strong reviews and a lot of praise in relation to its predecessors. So how does Resistance hold up? I ventured through the first couple solo campaigns on Xbox to find out.
Initially I wasn’t sure if Resistance was going to be “my kind” of game, but I came to find just during my first mission that that assumption was far from correct. At its core it’s designed for those who like to stealth their way through games when given the choice. That’s not to say the more straightforward fighting isn’t enjoyable, but it follows through on being tailored to sneakiness where a lot of other games fall short. The movement might not be as visually clean as, say, a newer Assassin’s Creed, but I feel like the freedom in motion and that sense that the character does exactly what you want it to is even stronger, feeling reminiscent of a 360 game in that aspect. Also like a 360 game, I ran into a few awkward glitchy moments, especially when combining stairs with crouching, but nothing that really affected my gameplay in the big picture. I also love the combat and sniping mechanics, which perfectly balance taking effort and not being annoyingly difficult. And, of course, the X-ray shots.
It’s certainly realistic and pretty unforgiving (while still fitting within the realm of a likable game)– enemies will spot you in under a few seconds, noise level plays a big part in your detection or lack thereof, and your HP is drained with just a few shots and can go on to experience a bleed effect if not treated with heals. The campaigns themselves are also vaguely guided so you, like a real commando, have to call the shots and pave your own path towards your objective. All of this is largely positive to me for a tactical and stealth-based game. While no aspect of Resistance is necessarily groundbreaking, just about every aspect was totally satisfactory if not great. In my experience, it’s easy to get sucked into, and not just worth trying but pretty much mandatory for anyone that might like sneaking through gorgeously-rendered French landscapes and taking out tons of Nazis.
